A metric for the effectiveness of graphical language presentation in terms of competency

Abstract

The task of developing a metric to gauge the effectiveness of graphical presentation techniques in teaching computer and information science concepts involves the measurement of student competency. Previous work in the general subject area has ad­ dressed the use of with flowchart techniques in terms of student preference and timed response indicating a superiority of flowchart representation over pseudocode [7] Other research [3] is being directed at the elTicacy of graphic representation as a post factum tool for debugging and maintenance. The anticipated success of that study will only serve to emphasize the importance of validating the graphic approach for instructional use. Positive results have recently been achieved using a graphical method in introductory courses [4]. The current study aims to document the degree to which graphic presentation enhances student learn­ ing. The hypothesis for our work is that the graphi­ cal method is more direct [1] and will be proven to produce significant improvement in specific learning areas. Crucial to creation of an appropriate environ­ ment in which to test the hypothesis is the choice of a model and methodology which will enable the researchers to make concrete evaluations of progress based on observable performance. The goal is to eliminate subjective judgments of student accomp­ lishment. The competency model suggested by the ICCP [6] is a restatement of a taxonomy of objectives formulated in the mid 1950’s [2], The value of this taxonomy is that it addresses competency directly in terms of depth of knowledge. The model lends itself well to (he development of a metric because under­ lying the concept of depth of knowledge is the con­ straint that each depth level is discrete. The classification problems inherent in a continuous scale are thus avoided. This also coincides with the thrust of the graphical environment with its emphasis on